VAULT EXTRA 20th JANUARY 2022
HEATHER B. SWANN AT TARRAWARRA MUSEUM OF ART
Heather B. Swann’s exhibition currently showing at TarraWarra Museum of Art emerges from the artist’s reinterpretation of mythology. The exhibition presents new works by Swann that respond to the Greek myth of Leda and the Swan – the myth also the exhibition’s namesake. Leda and the Swan upholds the artist’s reputation for mastering large-scale, meticulously crafted and highly expressive sculptural forms, and astute paintings and drawings. Works culminate as an installation that evokes rich and enticing ambiguity to successfully reframe the ancient myth by problematising its allusions to violence and the female experience. By presenting three accounts of the myth in Leda and the Swan, Swann acknowledges the many dimensions to any story, and introduces the narrative of female resilience while dually questioning the way society responds to enduring narratives.
Leda and the Swan is presented in conjunction with Sidney Nolan: Myth Rider – a comprehensive survey of more than 100 works by the iconic Australian artist – that also grapples with myth and conflict. Together the exhibitions offer an expansive reflection on the implications of myth-making.
VAULT’s current issue, issue 36 (Nov – Jan) features an in-depth article on Heather B. Swann that details the influences and development of Leda and the Swan. Read more about the artist, exhibition and myth in Beatrice Gralton’s article ‘Heather B. Swann: Poised Containment’.
Heather B. Swann: Leda and the Swan, and Sidney Nolan: Myth Rider continue at TarraWarra Museum of Art until 6 March, 2022.
Image credit: Heather B. Swann, Leda 2021, plywood, paper, modelling clay, pigment, glue, marble dust, 178 x 42 x 30 cm. Photo: Peter Whyte. Courtesy the artist and STATION
BUNJIL PLACE: VIDEO ART FROM THE ACMI COLLECTION
Bunjil Place is currently hosting a free exhibition that showcases ACMI’s vibrant collection of video art. Bunjil Place: Video Art from the ACMI Collection presents works that speak to strength and fragility of human connections, celebrating the human ability to communicate and connect despite the plethora of boundaries that often work to separate people. Showcasing three moving image artworks by Australian artists Angelica Mesiti, David Rosetzky and Ivan Sen, the exhibition marks the first time these ground-breaking works have been exhibited together. Through their unique practices, the three artists demonstrate the continuation of resilience, empathy and creativity in the wake of historical and cultural tensions.
Launching late-January, Bunjil Place will also be presenting Night Mode, an after-hours event that features a selection of works from the ACMI collection. The event will also feature craft-based designer and author Kitiya Palaskas, DJ Cuerpo Negro, and Melbourne Reggae band King Canoe making for a night full of art, drinks and live music.
Bunjil Place: Video Art from the ACMI Collection continues at Bunjil Place until 6 February, 2022.
bunjilplace.com.au
acmi.net.au
Image credit:Installation view Ivana Taylor, Reframe, 2021, Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert. Photo courtesy Simon Hewson
ELIZABETH PULIE AT UNSW GALLERIES
#117 (Survey) marks the first survey exhibition of Australian artist Elizabeth Pulie. Since 1988, Pulie has been making art about art, identifying and breaking down the ostensible limitations of art. Pulie’s paintings, drawings, installations, collages, videos and events address the social and political dimensions of art, speculating on the notion that anything can be positioned as ‘art’. Through her extensive practice, spanning more than 30 years, Pulie tests the perceived problems and limitations of art whilst also grappling with art’s role in everyday life.
The exhibition includes works from Pulie’s distinct, self-assigned conceptual projects: Decorative Paintings (1988–99), Relational Art (2002–06), End of Art (2012–ongoing) and Interim Works (1997–2012). These projects illustrate the philosophical approach to practice through which Pulie explores art’s commodification, decorative uses and speculates its end point – her practice a form of mapping the ontology of art and the role of the artist, gallery, and artwork.
#117 (Survey) continues until 10 April, 2022 at UNSW Gallery, Paddington.
artdesign.unsw.edu.au/unsw-galleries
Image credit: Elizbeth Pulie, #50 (Fucksake), 2014, acrylic on hessian, fibre cloth. Courtesy the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
TURBULENT WATER AT BUXTON CONTEMPORARY
Buxton Contemporary is currently showing Turbulent Water, a solo exhibition by acclaimed artist Rebecca Belmore. Turbulent Water brings together several key installation-based works from the artist’s multidisciplinary practice. Co-curated by Wanda Nanibush, Curator of Indigenous Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, and Griffith University Art Museum Director, Angela Goddard, Turbulent Water presents a selection of Goddard’s works that harness seductive and alluring images to expose the effects of dispossession, oppression and victimisation within First Nations communities. A member of the Lac Seul First Nation (Anishinaabe) of Canada, Belmore’s evocative use of bodies, land and language reflect on the political and social realties of Indigenous communities, questioning past narratives forged by colonial forces. Her works within the exhibition also demonstrate an innovate and surprising use of everyday objects that encourage the viewer to confront hidden meanings within otherwise innocent subject matter.
Turbulent Water continues at Buxton Contemporary until 8 May, 2022.
Image credit: Installation view Rebecca Belmore, The Named and the Unnamed, 2002 in Turbulent Water, Buxton Contemporary, University of Melbourne 2021–22. Collection: Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Photo: Christian Capurro. Courtesy the artist
ERWIN WURM AT LEHMANN MAUPIN
Known for his eccentric and witty sculptural works, the art of Erwin Wurm investigates the absurdities that can be found within the mundane. Wurm’s exhibition at Lehmann Maupin Palm Beach continues this idea, presenting works that distinctly innovate the use of everyday and luxury objects.
Wurm’s fascination towards society’s obsession with stereotypes and the association of luxury goods with wealth, success, class, sophistication, and individual worth is explored within his current solo exhibition. A highlight from the show is a series of photographs captured during Wurm’s solo exhibition at Taipei Fine Arts Museum, entitled One Minute in Taipei. Produced in collaboration with Vogue, each image depicts a unique One Minute Sculpture – an ongoing series in which Wurm assembles people, everyday objects and luxury items together to create experimental images that are both delightful and absurd. The exhibition also presents new paintings, referred to by the artist as the Flat Series.
Erwin Wurm at Lehmann Maupin continues until 6 February, 2022.
Image credit: Erwin Wurm, Cast (Flat Series), 2021, acrylic and oil paint on canvas, 150 x 120 x 4.5 cm. Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, and London
ETAL ADNAN AT GALERIE LELONG & CO
With a career spanning more than six decades, Labenese-American artist and poet Etel Adnan is remembered as one of the most accomplished and celebrated Arab-American creatives. Galerie Lelong & Co is currently exhibiting a selection of recent works by the artist across its Paris and New York locations, produced in the year before her death in November of 2021. Although known as a master of colour, as seen in her harmonious abstract landscapes, in 2021 Adnan adopted a bold new direction, producing a series of black and white paintings entitled Discovery of Immediacy.
Leading a nomadic existence for most of her life, Adnan’s written and visual works are informed by memory, and traverse the different cultures and disciplines she engaged with. Discovery of immediacy also presents a series of leporello booklets that are named after Erquy, a small commune in Brittany where Adnan and her long-time partner Simone Fattal had spent their summers.
Discovery of immediacy is on show concurrently at Lelong & Co’s New York and Paris locations until 19 February, 2022.
Image credit:Etel Adnan, Découverte de l'immédiat 49, 2021. Oil on canvas, 33 x 41 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Lelong & Co.
COMING SOON: MELBOURNE ART FAIR
Melbourne Art Fair is back this February with an incredible line-up of esteemed galleries and artists. From 17 to 20 February, 2022, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre will host a collection of over 50 leading galleries, including five Indigenous owned Arts Centres and a selection of newly-established galleries who will be making their air fair debut with the Melbourne Art Fair. In addition to bringing together Australian galleries and artists, Melbourne Art Fair will also host a range special projects, commissions, events, performances and conversations that will take place throughout Melbourne’s CBD.
Image credit:Patju Presley, Ilpili, 2021, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 137 x 200 cm. Courtesy the artist and Vivien Anderson Gallery
